


Moirai

by ImJustAMango



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: -Ish, Angst, Canon Compliant, Heavy Angst, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post- Re:Mind, Post-Canon, Ship Tags To Be Added, actually happens in the 1 year time jump, mostly - Freeform, oh boy just listing all the characters was work, post-kh3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:55:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23425858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImJustAMango/pseuds/ImJustAMango
Summary: Sora is gone. The others have a hard time accepting that, and do their best to get him back.But they all have their own obstacles to get over before they can ever reach him, and new villains are adamant about getting in their way, while previous enemies may now be on the "good" side.But, really, was there ever a "good" side to begin with?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

## 

##  SORA

* * *

There was only so long that Sora could stare at an endless expanse with the repeating pattern of water ripples, blue sky, and himself, before he went a bit crazy. If he could get sick here, he would have been a long time ago from laying on his back in the water for… hours? Weeks? Years? He wasn’t sure how long he had been there, and since he had taken Chirithy home to Ventus, he didn’t have anyone to keep track for him. 

The nameless and (mostly) voiceless stars weren’t much company either; they were reduced down to their most desperate thoughts, the only thing keeping them from fading forever. They weren’t strong enough to maintain a physical influence in the real world, and so they were trapped here endlessly with Sora, floating around aimlessly, with only the last desires or spites of their essence left.

Sora, too, had way too much time to think about his life. About all of the things he wished he had said to his friends, all the connections between them he wished he could forge.

Sora sighed. How did Kairi really feel about him and Riku? While Riku had been absent for far too long, Kairi was the one who was always in danger. And now she had tried, she trained and trained, for infinite time, and yet that didn’t stop her from being kidnapped again. It wasn’t her lack of training, it was her lack of physical strength and experience, and that was something that couldn’t really be helped. And she knew that. It made sense now to Sora why she had wanted to share a paopu fruit. She knew things could still happen to her, so she forged a tie with him so that they couldn’t be pulled apart forever.

Sora ground his teeth. So much good that did.

Riku, while they too were the best of friends, had been more concerned with helping Sora or going on missions Yen Sid assigned him now that he was a Master, and hadn’t played a very large part in saving Kairi. Sora could not forget him saving her in The World that Never Was, but in comparison to Sora, that was far less effort (Though , snickering at the irony, Sora admitted that Riku clearly had a much better success rate). 

Sora wondered if maybe he should have shared a paopu with Riku too while he had the chance. He wasn’t sure if it would work for multiple people, but it wouldn’t have hurt to try. Even if it wouldn’t have changed where Sora ended up, it at least would have given him some peace of mind. Riku had done so much for him and Sora hadn’t even begun to show gratitude for him. Sora swung an arm over his eyes, groaning. 

How did he feel now? He already had to watch helplessly as Sora slept for a year, and now Sora was gone completely.

He hadn’t even really had the chance to spend very much time with Riku since before this whole mess started. Sora wished he could take Riku to Arendelle, where he and Elsa might be able to understand each other, or to Corona to see the lantern festival, or the Carribean. Sora had spent a good while imagining how Riku and the rest of his friends would dress as pirates. Or maybe he should have gone to the Toy Box and Galaxy Toys to show Riku his video game doppelganger.

Except Sora wasn’t sure about that anymore. He sat up and looked around. 

That nameless star, she had mentioned that it was Yozora who would come looking for her if he remembered her. But how? Sora flitted his eyes around looking for where she might be right now. Yozora was from a game, wasn’t he? Was he a real person trapped in a data world? Sora wasn’t sure, but he had to pause and remind himself that it wasn’t really his problem anymore. He almost wished it was, that he had some other purpose than to remain in the Final World forever. 

He wished he could see all the others again too. Roxas, Xion, and Namine had to build new lives from nothing. They didn’t have their own home. Would they go to the Land of Departure and train with Aqua? Or go to Yen Sid? And then what? Sora would give almost anything to have someone to practice with; or, he supposed, just someone in general, even an enemy. 

What about Aqua, Terra, Ventus? His breath hitched. Where had Vanitas disappeared to? Where did he get his form from a Replica this time? Where did he get it the first time? What would Ventus do now that Vanitas was apparently gone? Weren't they halves of the same person? (Sora was practically hyperventilating now, the solitude magnifying his emotions.) Would Vanitas return to Ventus? What would that do to him? 

Calm down, Sora. You can only hope for the best. You can't do anything to change it this time.

  
  


Sora didn't know if it counted as sleep, but there were what seemed to be extended periods of time where he would fall unconscious, resting atop a salt pillar that he discovered he could make appear at will. He had to use either an arm or an item of clothing to shield his eyes from the eternal daylight, but he found some rest. 

Nothing noteworthy of any kind had occurred during this stay. The stars didn't even talk to him anymore, and Sora worried that Sora was losing the part of himself that made him different, that proved he still existed. 

Until it changed. He pulled his arm from over his eyes and looked up to see stars. Real stars. Sora jolted onto his feet in a second. What was going on? What changed? Maybe this world did have nighttime and Sora hadn't been here nearly as long as he thought. 

But then he could feel a presence. Something here was alive, existed just like he did. Sora had been alone so long he could instantly feel the difference in the air. 

Sora called out, finding it weird to hear his own voice, and he almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a reply. He raced towards the voice. A figure in the distance reached his vision, and Sora didn't stop until the could see the blank expression on his face. 

Yozora?

##  RIKU

* * *

More hands than Riku could count in his present state of mind were holding him back from throwing himself head-first into the ocean. He flailed his arms, trying to get even an inch closer to the water's edge, to the horizon, to the tree where Sora was last seen. His ears were ringing so loudly he couldn’t hear himself screaming. He couldn’t feel the tears streaming down his face, or the blood as his nails dug into his palms. He could only feel pain inside him, as though part of him had literally been ripped out. Sora couldn’t be gone. Not after everything he had gone through, every enemy he defeated, every trial he had survived, all while carrying a smile. There was no way. Nothing could stop Sora.

Kairi was crying too. “Riku, please-”

Riku couldn’t listen to her. “SORA!”

He somehow managed to break free and sprinted down to the water, not stopping until he was waist deep. He let everything out. His friends would tell him months later that it was the most painful, heartbreaking thing they had ever witnessed, and with everything they all had been through, that was a hard level to reach. He didn’t know how long he stood there, screaming at the setting sun. The next thing he remembers is coming to himself inside a hotel room on the main island. Kairi was there, gripping his side, crying quietly, and Roxas was there on his other side, holding his hand in a way that kept him from digging his nails further into his open wounds. 

It took awhile for him to completely calm himself, to numb himself, and he found the smaller two asleep, Roxas on his shoulder and Kairi on his leg. He struggled to maneuver his way out, placing pillows under their heads before leaving the room. 

He didn’t know what other rooms his friends were staying in, but he went up through the hotel to the roof. The salty air was refreshing, and helped clear his mind a bit.

What was he going to do? He had to find Sora. There was no way he was gone forever. That was impossible, right?

  
  


Riku’s fist hit the brick wall hard. He pulled it back, shaking out the pain, and sadly felt no less angry than he had before.

3 months. It had been 3 months since he had started looking for Sora, and there wasn’t a single trace.

“Riku!” Mickey said. “Now is not the time to give up!”

Riku clenched and unclenched his fist a few times. “Where could he be? We’ve looked everywhere!” 

“I think we should take a break and go to Yen Sid’s tower,” Mickey suggested.

“I can’t rest until I find him! He is waiting for me,” Riku said, continuing back down the path towards the Radiant Garden’s castle.

“Jiminy called and said Yen Sid wanted to talk to you anyways.” Mickey led the way towards their gummiship. “We can keep going tomorrow.”

Riku groaned. “Fine, but I want to leave bright and early.”

Mickey sighed, but nodded his head in agreement.

  
  


“What did you need, Master?” Riku stood before Yen Sid, waiting for the info-dump.

Yen Sid sat in silence for a moment, studying him. Riku fidgeted.

“I would like you to describe to me the sensations you felt when Sora… disappeared,” the wizard requested, inexplicably.

“Huh?”

“It may help shed some light.”

Riku scratched his head. He didn’t want to relive the day again, but he didn’t have much say in the matter. “Well, it started out as a sharp stinging in my head, and a ringing in my ears. Then I looked over to the Paopu tree, and noticed Sora and Kairi were there, and then the next moment Sora was gone. The pain intensified so much, and I felt as though my heart had quite literally ripped out of my chest. I screamed a lot. I felt a pull towards the sea, one that I couldn’t fight at all. Once I reached the water, the pain lessened a lot, and I don’t remember much after that. Next thing I knew I came-to in a hotel room.”

“I see.” Yen Sid was silent for a moment. “That supports my conclusion.”

“Huh?”

“You surely remember our discovery during your mark of mastery, where you accidentally became Sora’s Dreameater.”

Riku didn’t quite follow. “Yeah, I remember. But we went back to normal when we came to the real world, right?”

Yen Sid shook his head. “Actually, no. Recent discovery has shown me that the creatures that we call dreameaters do not, in fact, live exclusively in dreams.” Yen Sid showed a projection of a weird small cat-like creature with a cape and bag. “I have discovered that Ventus has regained contact with this creature, which he calls Chirithy. Ventus has even more questionable origins than we originally thought, and has only recently started to regain tiny pieces of his memories from his past. From what he remembers, all of the Keyblade Wielders he remembers had their own Chirithies. And these creatures are, in fact, a form of dreameater.”

“Okay…” Riku felt a nudge in his brain, like these things should connect, but he can't figure out how.

“I invited Ventus and Chirithy to come here so I could consult with them, and I discovered some troubling information.” Yen Sid sighed, like he wasn’t sure how to say the next part. Riku had never seen him like this before.“Dream eaters can’t survive without their humans.”

“But that would mean…” Riku stopped, shocked.

“Yes, Riku. If Sora dies, you would die as well. That is why you felt that pain when Sora faded. He may be missing, locked far away, but he is still alive.”

##  KAIRI

* * *

“Kairi?”

She didn’t look at him. She couldn’t bear to tell him. She was scared herself, but in her heart she could feel it.

“What do you mean, you are going to Ansem?” Axel nudged her.

“I-”

“You can’t. I don’t care if others forgave him; there are too many sins that I’ve witnessed him commit for me to do so. You can’t go to him.” Axel shook her lightly by the shoulders. “I can’t watch him hurt you, too.”

“Axel, what else can we do? No one has had any luck so far, and I shared his heart for a while. He gave his life to save me. He risked it far more times before that. I can’t just sit here and do nothing!” Kairi shook him off, heading for the world door. 

Kairi and Axel returned often to the training chamber they had shared to get away. There was so much going on, and sometimes it was overwhelming, but here it was just each other. 

“What were you planning to do once you got there,” Axel was trembling, trying to hold back his anger. She could tell he didn’t want to scare her. 

“I- I was going to have him look through my heart, see if he could find any clues to where Sora went, since I’m the last who saw him….” Kairi looked at her feet.

“What?! No. No no no… Kairi, he has done this before. I have seen him do this to another one of my friends before. It was agony. He tore every part of her identity, her being, away from her. She kept forgetting who we were, where she was, everything. And then she just… disappeared. Once he was done with her, he-- he just threw her away. Please, Kairi. Please don’t go!” Axel was on his knees in front of her, holding her hands in his. He had tears in his eyes. “We just got you back. We can’t lose you. I--- I can’t lose another friend.”

Kairi had to hold back her own tears. She wanted to do as he said, wanted to find another way, but her heart was made up. She pulled her hands out of his and turned away. She swallowed hard.

“I’ve already made up my mind. I trust you, so why can’t you trust me?”

She could hear the pain in his voice. “I do! I do trust you! It’s him I don’t trust!”

Kairi shook her head. “I’m going. I’m sorry, Axel.” She ran away before he could stop her. 

“Kairi!”

  
  


“Are you sure about this, Kairi?” Ansem asked her one last time.

Kairi nodded. “Just do it before I psych myself out.” Ansem sighed, turning to Even and nodding. Even came forward and put a mask over her mouth.

“Breathe this in so we can put you to sleep. Ten… nine… eight…”

Kairi could feel her consciousness fading quickly. Right before she went under she heard a shout and a flash of red hair.

“Kairi!”

But she was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed that little bit of Sora's POV, cause it's all you are getting for a LONG time. :)


	2. Chapter 2

## 

## VENTUS

* * *

“Ven, you’re like a princess sometimes, you know?”

“Huh?” Ventus didn’t look up from his book. Ever since they had returned to the Land of Departure, Aqua had practically quarantined him, only letting him leave to go on outings with the whole group or to go talk to Yen Sid that one time. After traveling so much prior to his coma, he felt antsy staying in one place for so long. He had indulged her to qualm her concerns, but after a month he was starting to feel over it.

“Just thinking,” Chirithy said. “Too pure. Too willing to give others what they want, always hopeful, always putting others first. Reminds me of a princess of heart.”

Ventus shrugged. “Is there anything wrong with that?”

“Not necessarily, but everyone has a limit, and you’ve broken yours far more times than most would consider wise.” Chirithy pat his head and then plopped onto his pillow.

Ven closed his book and shrugged again. “I don’t recall any times like that.”

Chirithy sighed again. “Some of them you couldn’t even if you tried.”

“Huh? Do you mean from the time before I came to the land of departure?” Ven asked.

“Uh-huh. What _do_ you remember?”

Ven rolled onto his back. “Not much, really. Just… faces. Not even names. I can see small flashes that I was part of something, but I don’t know what. And I remember you, of course,” he added, patting Chirithy’s head in return.

They sat in silence for a while.

“I’m worried,” Chirithy said, finally.

“About Sora?”

“Yes- No- Well, sort of,” Chirithy groaned. “Ever since Sora dove into sleep for his exam, the borders between realms have been getting thinner and thinner. It used to be that dreameaters could only exist in the sleeping realm, but now sleep and reality are blending more and more. Closer to how they were anciently, and I’m afraid that old conflicts will come back.”

Ven didn’t say anything for a minute. “Do you mean, you existed anciently? But if you are my dream eater, then how?”

Chirithy didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to.

“You mean, the ancient keyblade war, the one Eraqus told us legends about… I was there?”

Chirithy gave a small nod, not looking at him.

“Oh.”

They were silent for a while again.

“We need to go see if I can regain some of my memories from the past, or at least figure out where I came from and how I got here.”

Chirithy looked at him. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea…”

“Come on, isn’t everyone entitled to their own memories?” Ven poked Chirithy’s cheek, who swat his hand away.

“I suppose, but you are the one who has to convince Aqua to let you go.”

“Oh, brother. I forgot about that…”

  
  


Ven decided to approach Terra first. He found the latter sitting alone for a brunch in the kitchen.

“Hey, Terra.”

Terra looked up from the papers he was reading. “Hey, Ven,” Terra ruffled Ven’s already messy hair. 

“Whatcha readin’?” Ven looked over his shoulder, but couldn’t read more than a line of the elaborate handwriting before Terra put them aside. 

“Just some _really_ old documents about data and glitching heartless. Can’t make much sense of it really. It’s supposedly from the archives of wherever Eraqus trained at.”

“Hm, interesting.” Ven wasn’t at all interested. “Can I ask you something?”

Terra shrugged and patted the barstool next to him. “Of course, what is it?”

“What do you remember hearing about me and my arrival here? Like where I came from.”

Terra looked taken aback. “Well, not much, just that you were an apprentice to Xehanort for a short time before he brought you here. Nothing about where you came from or anything before that time. Why do you ask?”

Ven sighed. “It’s complicated. Chirithy thinks my past might be related to what happened to Sora, and I also want to know more about where I came from.”

“Well, I would tell you to go out and investigate, but I don’t have the authority to let you, and Aqua has me locked down too.”

Ven rubbed his eyes. “I have to convince her. If I don’t I’ll leave anyway.”

Terra winced. “Careful, you don’t want to make her angry. Trust me.”

“If it will help Sora, I don’t care.”

Trying to convince her was an immediate wall. The second he even started to hint at it she shut him down.

“No, I am not letting you go by yourself anywhere, and neither Terra or myself can go because we are trying to set up the school again,” Aqua said, turning back to the books she was sorting.

“But Aqua, Xehanort is gone. You don’t have to worry about me anymore,” Ven argued.

“And? There are still heartless out there, still darkness. There are still people who would want to kidnap you, use you, just for being a keyblade wielder. I can’t let that happen.” Her voice was rising, getting louder, sharper.

“Aqua, I’m not just a kid. I’ve had my fair share of trials too, and I made it through.”

“I can’t lose you again!” Aqua yelled finally. “I don’t want to come across your body again, wait another eternity to restore your heart. I’m not strong enough.” Her hands and voice shook and she tried to regain control.”

“But Aqua-”

“No. You are not leaving, and that’s final. Besides, we need your help here.”

Ven didn’t try to convince her further. He knew he wouldn’t get her permission, so he could only hope she would forgive him later.

Ven had just finished packing his bag late that night when he heard a knock on the door. He tensed up, ready to hide his bag when he heard Terra’s voice. “It’s just me.”

Ven let him in and sat on his bed. Terra looked around, taking in the state of disarray, the open duffle bag on the floor, and joined Ven on the bed. 

“I heard it was a no from Aqua. Are you sure you still want to go?” Terra asked.

Ven sighed, putting his face in his hands. “I just- I have to know. Where did I come from? Why was I brought here? How? It’s all so confusing, so fuzzy. I don’t know what makes me so special, “pure of heart” as they say, from the rest of you. I still experience anger, fear, all the other emotions you do. As does Kairi. I don’t get it.”

Terra pulled him into his side. “ Are you sure you will be ok? I’m sure we could find a friend to go with you if you wanted.”

Ven shook his head. “No. This is my mission. Mine to solve. And besides, I have Chirithy to keep me company.”

Terra looked down. The moonlight just barely highlighted the frown on his face. “If this is what you really want, I support you. Still, we just got back. It’s not going to be the same without you here.”

Ven realized the hidden meaning. “Terra, this is still my home. You and Aqua are still my best friends, my family. Nothing will ever change that. I will come back, I promise.”

Terra looked at him, reading his expression. After a moment, he nodded and stood up. Ventus rose too and hugged him tightly.

“Almost ready to go?” Terra asked. Ven nodded, squatting to close his bag before dismissing it. 

They walked together out to the courtyard, staying as quiet as they could so Aqua wouldn’t hear them. Ven gave Terra one last hug, lingering for a minute.

“Stay safe, please.” 

“I will. I promise.”


End file.
